It is not until we are aware, that we realize all that is behind a handicraft. They are not just souvenirs, nor are they just beautiful products that remind us of a journey, a moment or a person. Handicrafts are products that reflect the identity of a country and its culture; that represent the legacy of generations and that transmit the knowledge of ancient civilizations with traditions that have been lost in a globalized world.
Handicrafts and popular art of different cultures can be considered as spontaneous and instinctive expressions in which many of the craftsmen have not studied for it; but they have learned it thanks to the fact that the techniques are shared from generation to generation. However, these spontaneous expressions have been transformed and adapted to incorporate new techniques, skills, materials and concepts that have emerged thanks to a technological influence based on innovation.
How can we define handicrafts?
Handicrafts are known as a productive activity of objects made by hand with the help of simple instruments1. So far so good. However, with the arrival of industrialization, handicrafts had to adapt and differentiate themselves from mass-produced products in order to maintain their authenticity; as well as to survive the importation of foreign products and to adapt to new marketing channels. This is how the concept of “Contemporary Handicrafts” was born.
Contemporary handicrafts is nothing more than the mixture of traditional handicrafts with technology; which can be used both for new creations and to improve and simplify the manufacturing processes. It is already common to see luxury brands handmade thanks to the use of technology. We also see handicraft pieces made with 3D printers or laser engraving; jewelry that mixes traditional metals with recycled materials; as well as products made with natural raw materials to create a more sustainable handicraft.
Although contemporary handicrafts unite the world of the traditional with the modern, it is convenient to remember that even with the use of new technological resources to improve the working conditions of the artisans, these should not change the quality and condition of the products.
Have craftsmen also become contemporary?
There are countries where artisans still live and produce in remote communities, as is the case in Mexico, Peru and other Latin American countries; where handicrafts are mainly produced in indigenous villages. There are also countries where artisans, in spite of producing in a traditional way according to their culture, have had access to new forms of production and commercialization of their products.
Regardless of where they are in the world, artisans have had to adapt in one way or another to the modern era to try to compete with industrialized brands that have the capacity to replicate their crafts in half the time and half the cost. And I say try because it’s not easy; it’s not easy to produce and sell at the same time. Many of them are looking for help in promoting themselves on social networks or selling online, so that their handicrafts do not disappear and they can keep alive the traditions and stories of their culture in every piece they produce.
March 19th is the International Day of the Artisan, where we as consumers must dignify the work of a large number of people who every day create with their hands to preserve a legacy that transcends time. At a time like the present, when we are facing a health crisis that brings with it many changes, we must applaud and recognize the work done by artisans, from whom we can learn that things done calmly bring greater reward, and for longer, than things done in a hurry.
Let us support the artisans of the world. Those who continue to create in the traditional way, as well as those who have been able to innovate. All of them are part of a strong social fabric, where they support each other to change paradigms and about going out in an already almost completely industrialized world. They are the breath of fresh air that makes us think twice before buying and that makes us want to know how the products we buy are made.
Meet the people behind the products sold in our online shop; get to know their stories and how each one of them contributes their grain of sand for a better planet.
1 Francisco de la Torre. (2012). Artesanías, pueblos y costumbres. En Arte popular mexicano(25). México: Trillas.